HEALTH services could be provided at Cardiff Royal Infirmary under proposals put forward by local health chiefs.

HEALTH services could be provided at Cardiff Royal Infirmary under proposals put forward by local health chiefs.

Cardiff Local Health Board has set up a group to look at retaining services at the hospital after residents objected to original plans to abandon the historic site.

It is thought that primary and intermediate care services could be based at the CRI to take pressure off the capital's other hospitals.

The LHB will now examine what the health needs are of residents in central and eastern Cardiff and where they should be provided.

Sian Richards, chief executive of Cardiff LHB said, "We certainly see, at this stage, that there are sufficient service needs for at least the freehold element of the CRI and for continued use of the west wing part of the hospital."

The move represents a dramatic U-turn on earlier plans to dispose of the hospital which were put out to consultation last November.

The former Bro Taf Health Authority had said it would be too difficult to make the hospital site fit for purpose and there were limitations on what could be provided because of the Grade II listing.

The health authority also argued higher clinical standards and a move towards primary and community care meant the hospital was no longer viable and the population increase in the east of Cardiff changed the focus of where services should be provided in the future.

But campaigners hoping to save the CRI handed in a 6,000 signature petition and more than 90 letters objecting to the plans. They argued that the CRI offered good access for residents in both central and eastern Cardiff and they did not accept that the estimates for redeveloping the hospital were accurate.

Ms Richards added, "The LHB has listened to the strength of public feeling and continued detailed discussions with the community health council around the re-provision of a local healthcare service to meet local needs.

"Based on this the LHB has set up a multi-agency group to look at the redevelopment of the CRI.

"The LHB recognises this is an opportunity to provide a range of primary care and intermediate care services for residents in central and eastern Cardiff and to help capacity issues across hospitals sites in the city."

Gerry Moreton, chairman of Cardiff Community Health Council, said, "We want as much and as sophisticated medical services at the CRI as possible and we are very encouraged by this move."

Alternative proposals for the future of the CRI are expected to be completed by September when Cardiff CHC will decide whether they can be accepted as part of the consultation process.